A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of Boy Soldier is a non-fiction account of Ishmael Beah's experiences serving as a child soldier for the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. In telling his story, Beah sheds light on many issues related to the use of children as soldiers in conflicts in Africa and around the world. These issues include:
The abduction of children to be used as child soldiers
The separation of family members, many of whom are never reunited
Different roles children play in conflicts
Brainwashing (frequently with drugs) of child soldiers
Violent acts committed by children
The psychological and emotional impact of committing such acts
Groups seeking to help end the use of child soldiers
Attempts at rehabilitating children used as soldiers in conflicts
As a final assessment for this topic, you will be researching current news stories on child soldiers. The purpose of this activity is to relate what happened in the book to what is happening in the world. You will need to find 3 articles from credible news sources that deal with any of the aspects of child soldiers. You will use the Digital Databases provided by the school to find your articles. You are not to use encyclopedia entries as you sources.
One paragraph summarizing the article. You must explain the basic details of the article (who, what, where, when, why). This must be in your own words.
One paragraph comparing what was described in the article to what happened in A Long Way gone. How does what happened to the individuals in the article relate to what happened to Ishmael? What are the similarities and differences?
The general formatting should look like this:
Title of Article: Citation: (use the page in your planner for help)
Paragraph 1: 6-8 sentences
Paragraph 2: 6-8 sentences
Check with Mr. Warner or Mr. McDuffie before printing your project
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of Boy Soldier is a non-fiction account of Ishmael Beah's experiences serving as a child soldier for the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. In telling his story, Beah sheds light on many issues related to the use of children as soldiers in conflicts in Africa and around the world. These issues include:
As a final assessment for this topic, you will be researching current news stories on child soldiers. The purpose of this activity is to relate what happened in the book to what is happening in the world. You will need to find 3 articles from credible news sources that deal with any of the aspects of child soldiers. You will use the Digital Databases provided by the school to find your articles. You are not to use encyclopedia entries as you sources.
Digital Databases
For each article, you will need:
The general formatting should look like this:
Title of Article: Citation: (use the page in your planner for help)
Paragraph 1: 6-8 sentences
Paragraph 2: 6-8 sentences
Check with Mr. Warner or Mr. McDuffie before printing your project